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Apple Sics Lawyers on SomethingAwful 512

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the rabid-lawyers dept.
bheer writes "Apple has sent a threatening letter to SomethingAwful about a post in its forums that describes how to fix the overheating in some MacBook Pros by applying thermal paste properly, according to a post on Gizmodo. The post includes a brief excerpt from Apple's Service Source Manual which Apple wants removed. Gizmodo continues: 'the real problem [is] that the image shows the extremely sloppy manufacturing process that is causing the MacBook Pro to run at temperatures as high as a 95 degrees Celcius under full load.'"
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Apple Sics Lawyers on SomethingAwful More

Apple Sics Lawyers on SomethingAwful

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  • Actually... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by daveschroeder ( 516195 ) * on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:05PM (#15278593)
    The post includes a brief excerpt from Apple's Service Source Manual which Apple wants removed. Gizmodo continues: 'the real problem [is] that the image shows the extremely sloppy manufacturing process that is causing the MacBook Pro to run at temperatures as high as a 95 degrees Celcius under full load.

    No, that's not the "real problem". Apple goes after anyone, anywhere, that ever posts or reproduces anything from their service manuals, which it considers proprietary, in whole or in part. It doesn't matter what circumstances in which this was posted: Apple would have gone after them, regardless.

    Also, the service manual doesn't represent the "manufacturing process". It represents service instructions for service technicians.

    However, all of that aside, Apple applies a stunningly ridiculous and inappropriate amount of thermal paste to the CPU and GPU in the MacBook Pro. It apparently does this both in the manufacturing process and the service process - the description and pictures of about ten times the amount of thermal paste than should actually be applied in the service manual only underscores the magnitude of the mistake. For those who might not be aware, thermal paste is not a case of "the more, the better": after a point, it fails to transfer heat, and the heat gets dissipated in an uncontrolled and unintended - and potentially damaging - way. And that's what's happening in the MacBook Pro. When a proper amount of thermal paste is applied, the MacBook Pro runs MUCH cooler, with heat actually transferring to the heatpipe, and the fans turning on when necessary, resulting in a massive drop in operating temperature (not to mention feeling like you're using a small campfire on your lap).

    Inevitable Apple bashing aside, I'm actually quite surprised that, given its attention to detail, no one at Apple in any of its product design, engineering, manufacturing, or service operations, nor anyone at Asustek (the contractor that manufactures the MacBook Pro), realized that this is an utterly stupid amount of paste to be applying. I'm just dumbfounded that this made it through whatever QA is in place (and, again, Apple bashing and first revision products aside, keep in mind that Apple has the BEST QA and least need for service across the entire industry, consistently, and has for years, according to consumer reporting and tracking organizations like Consumer Reports).

    In any case, Apple also hasn't commented or acknowledged this because it NEVER does so until there is a fix in place (or when it knows a specific fix is already in the pipeline). And yes, it is a "simple" fix, but as anyone who understands a complicated manufacturing process knows, it can take a while to implement any change.

    In any event, because (regardless of what anyone may or may not say) Apple is the best in terms of responding to and remedying these kinds of problems when compared to other vendors[1], I have no doubt this will be resolved. I do hope Apple provides a free process for current owners to have this problem resolved at any Apple service facility.

    [1] In other words, if anyone is going to say "Apple sucks" on this front, 1.) anyone can come up with service or product nightmare anecdotes from any vendor, and 2.) all other vendors are worse in all categories, if you accept Consumer Reports' rating processes.

    • Re:Actually... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Jett ( 135113 )
      The whole issue makes me question whether their quality is declining as their volume goes up - overloading thermal paste is such a completely and totally obvious thing, it speaks volumes about the "attention to detail". I suspect we may see a significant decline in how high they are rated, at least until the second or third generation of CORE based Macs.

      • Re:Actually... (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Jeffrey Baker ( 6191 )
        This doesn't make sense because their volume is not up. As mentioned upthread, these laptops are manufactured by Asustek, and Asustek has a huge volume already.

        All you can really conclude is that Asustek has poor quality controls, regardless of the brand under contract.

        • Re:Actually... (Score:3, Informative)

          by Gentlewhisper ( 759800 )
          This doesn't make sense because their volume is not up. As mentioned upthread, these laptops are manufactured by Asustek, and Asustek has a huge volume already.


          Actually no, Asustek is contracted to make the consumer notebooks. The high end varieties are made by Quanta.
    • Even more surprising is that Asus has a sloppy manufacturing process. Well... not terribly. I bought a faulty motherboard from them once, but, that aside, their products really are top-notch.

    • fair use (Score:5, Insightful)

      by penguin-collective ( 932038 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:32PM (#15278696)
      No, that's not the "real problem". Apple goes after anyone, anywhere, that ever posts or reproduces anything from their service manuals, which it considers proprietary, in whole or in part. It doesn't matter what circumstances in which this was posted: Apple would have gone after them, regardless.

      It doesn't matter what Apple considers them, they should be published copyrighted material and governed by the rules that apply to such materials. As such, posting a one page excerpt out of a manual that must be several hundred pages ought to be considered "fair use", in particular given the purpose that it's being posted for.

      No, TFA is right: Apple wants this information removed for the sole reason that it embarrasses them. Verbal acrobatics like "considers them proprietary" are just an attempt to hide that fact. In the end, Apple had two choices: tolerate it or send in their legal team, and they have chose the latter.

      Apple is the best in terms of responding to and remedying these kinds of problems when compared to other vendors

      Actually, when you look at surveys and analyses of service quality, Apple is in the top, but they are not always the best. My own experience with their service on a top-of-the-line Powerbook has been that they are trying, but that it may take them several tries to fix it.

      • Fair use? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by fm6 ( 162816 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @07:38PM (#15278893) Homepage Journal
        It doesn't matter what Apple considers them, they should be published copyrighted material and governed by the rules that apply to such materials. As such, posting a one page excerpt out of a manual that must be several hundred pages ought to be considered "fair use", in particular given the purpose that it's being posted for.

        No, TFA is right: Apple wants this information removed for the sole reason that it embarrasses them. Verbal acrobatics like "considers them proprietary" are just an attempt to hide that fact. In the end, Apple had two choices: tolerate it or send in their legal team, and they have chose the latter.

        There a nasty leap of logic between your two paragraphs. Apple should do something that you consider common-sensical THEREFORE they have a hidden agenda.

        Once again, people are ascribing to malice something that's more easily explained by stupidity. And in situations like this, corporations are profoundly stupid. Apple clearly has a policy that to hassle people who "steal" their IP. The only way to implement such a policy is to assign some low-ranking dweeb to cruise the web and look for this "stolen" IP. When he sees it, he fires off a C&D letter. He does not have the discretion to say "Oh, I should give them a pass, that's probably fair use."

        You've obviously never worked in any private organization bigger than a little league team. If you had, you'd know that Apple, and all enterprises like it, have thousands of discretion-free low-level dweebs like the one just described. Ascribing some deeper purpose to such people is silly.

        • Re:Fair use? (Score:3, Interesting)

          by melvin xavier ( 942849 )
          No, you don't get it. Regular citizens don't have the resources to legally challenge anything. Half of whatever lease you have is probably not legally enforcible. Why? Because you don't know enough to really fight it or you don't have the resources to if a problem arises. If Apple is sending out these letters, I'm betting it's an informed and intentional legal strategy. It's not some corporate troll making decisions - that's not how the legal world works. It has nothing to do with common sense, emplo

        • If you had, you'd know that Apple, and all enterprises like it, have thousands of discretion-free low-level dweebs like the one just described. Ascribing some deeper purpose to such people is silly.

          Perhaps there is a deeper purpose, and perhaps not. If they DO allow a discretion-free low-level dweeb to fire off legal documents like that, they are terribly negligent and deserve whatever bad publicity it generates (at least). At the very least, the low-level dweeb's findings should be screened by a parale

    • Wow (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:38PM (#15278715)
      I saw the picture of their service manual on the SA forums. It's shows the guy putting an entire tube of thermal grease on an area that is around 1/2 square inch. So, after all is said and done in the manufacturing process, Macbook pro's probably have around four tubes of thermal grease in them. That really is insane. [b]One tube alone[/b] should be able to do three or four laptops.

      I'm suprised the laptops didn't outright fail due to the heat.

      If anyone is interested, here is what the parent poster is talking about:

      http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/7541/lol1qe.jpg [imageshack.us]

    • Re:Actually... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:39PM (#15278723) Homepage
      Let's not forget that the site they're going after is this one [somethingawful.com].

      Yes, they're going after a site with Mother Teresa with a Broken Finger and Pizza the Hut on the front page. The one that reviewed the Vore [somethingawful.com] RPG (NSFW... RNSFW), and has a running section called The Horrors of Porn [somethingawful.com] (NSF...NM). Going after them is a lot like shouting at a woodpecker to stop bashing their skulls into a tree, especially with the Legal Threats [somethingawful.com] section so prominently featured on the front page.

      Don't get me wrong, I love Something Awful. They're one of the few sites that believe in truth in advertising. I just wouldn't expect them to respond to legal threats in anything other than a deragatory comedy fashion. I expect a review soon that gives Apple's threatening legal letter a score of -48. Worst Legal Threat Letter Ever.

      Actually, technically, they're going after the forums [wikipedia.org]. 'cause those people on the forums really listen.

    • Basically your saying "Apple has been teh r0x0r in the past and so they cant do wrong. I trust that Apple will fix all problems becuase I love them so much."

    • Re:Actually... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Henry V .009 ( 518000 )
      Sounds like Apple has an improperly supervised legal department. Lawyers are like engineers. Management needs to understand what they're doing, otherwise they'll ruin the company.

      Luckily law is easier to understand than engineering (but harder to get into due to their unions^H^H^H^H^H^H bar associations). Any properly managed company can keep its lawyers in check easily enough. Sounds like Apple has some management issues.

      Of course, the easiest place to point whenever you talk about management issues an

      • Re:Actually... (Score:5, Funny)

        by cgenman ( 325138 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @07:52PM (#15278932) Homepage
        Hmm, I was thinking the opposite. Lawyers are like managers. Engineers needs to understand what they're doing, otherwise they'll ruin the company.

        After all, it wasn't engineers that ran HP into the ground.

        • Re:Actually... (Score:3, Insightful)

          by nathanh ( 1214 )

          After all, it wasn't engineers that ran HP into the ground.

          Amen brother. And when HP was soaring it was because the managers were originally engineers. When the managers got replaced by "career managers" who had no engineering experience, the company sunk into the abyss like a stone. HP was reknowned for engineering and without engineers at the helm, the company floundered.

          Similarly when Jobs (who isn't an engineer but clearly has natural talent for design) was running Apple it soared. When a "care

      • Re:Actually... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by john82 ( 68332 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @08:48PM (#15279108)
        Sounds like someone wasn't smart enough to get through engineering school and still has feelings of inadequacy.

        I have never seen a company run into the ground by technical staff. I only wish I could say the same about managers. They frequently take about as much time analyzing a problem to underand the solution, as you have with this story about Apple. As is common with Slashdot stories, there's not information here to arrive at any objective conclusion.
    • Apple goes after anyone, anywhere, that ever posts or reproduces anything from their service manuals

      While I agree that what Apple is doing is protecting its copyrighted material, I think your statement is untrue. If this was in the New York Times instead of Something Awful, I think Apple would bite its tongue.
    • [b][1] In other words, if anyone is going to say "Apple sucks" on this front[/b]

      Apple sucks.

      I'm just itching for some troll modding, so here goes.

      Apple used to have it's manufacturing here in the US. Not just their manufacturing, their design, marketing, the whole shebangs.

      What has happened to apple, like what has happened to a lot of companies is they've outsourced. Yes, the big evil globalization. The large corporate excuse to use underpaid labor in other countries, the excuse to dump tons of enviromen

    • Re:Actually... (Score:5, Informative)

      by monkeydo ( 173558 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @07:28PM (#15278867) Homepage
      From Dave Schroder's website:
      I am located at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. I work in the University's Division of Information Technology (DoIT) since 1995 in the Systems Engineering group as the senior Apple systems engineer, supporting Apple products in primarily research and enterprise environments at the University. In 2001, I was honored to be selected as an Apple Distinguished Educator.
      From Apple's website:
      Role of ADEs

      Members of the ADE community fulfill three primary roles in their interaction with Apple:

      Advocate: ADEs are passionate advocates of the potential of Apple technologies and provide expert assistance and best practices to educators and policymakers.

      Astroturf much?

  • Take your own picture (Score:5, Insightful)

    by chanrobi ( 944359 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:10PM (#15278610)
    Problem solved. Why is this such a big deal?

  • Apple goes after people posting service manuals (Score:4, Interesting)

    by moof1138 ( 215921 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:12PM (#15278617)
    Perhaps Apple is embarrased by this, but the behavior doesn't really offer proof. Apple has send Cease and Desist letters to sites posting service manuals and images out of service manuals many times before.

  • Karma whore (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:12PM (#15278620)
    The thread in question:
    http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?s= &threadid=1864582 [somethingawful.com]

    Lowtax's response:
    http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?th readid=1867138 [somethingawful.com]

    Posted anonymously to avoid accusations of karma whoring :)

  • End of thread (Score:5, Informative)

    by jmorris42 ( 1458 ) * <{jmorris} {at} {beau.org}> on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:13PM (#15278625)
    Let me save everyone the trouble...

    Apple is acting like Apple always does... like an asshole. They are caught out in a fairly major QA problem and trying to lawyer their way around it. Same as every other large company. Mac fanbois will of course totally defend their noble defense of their 'intellectual property' even though this case is a textbook example of fair use. The fanbois will also 'like totally defend the quality of Apple hardware against that Dell crap.' And while they have cause for that in general it will stink of slavish devotion because of just how busted Apple is on this case.

    That 'bout cover everything?

    • Re:End of thread (Score:2, Informative)

      by moof1138 ( 215921 )
      >Mac fanbois will of course totally defend their noble defense of their 'intellectual property' even though this case is a textbook example of fair use.

      You preemptive ad hominem aside, Apple is not trying to delete the thread, just remove an image from one of their service manuals. How is posting sections of a service manual fair use? Service providers and others who are given access to those manuals sign an agreement that they will not do the very thing that was done.

      • How is posting sections of a service manual fair use?

        It's being used to criticise Apple's manufacturing process.

      • Fair Use (Score:5, Informative)

        by TubeSteak ( 669689 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:39PM (#15278722) Journal
        How is posting sections of a service manual fair use? Service providers and others who are given access to those manuals sign an agreement that they will not do the very thing that was done.


        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use#Fair_use_und er_United_States_law [wikipedia.org]
        In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include--
        1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
        2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
        3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole;
        4. and the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
        1. The use would qualify as " nonprofit educational purposes";
        2. ummm, it's a service manual;
        3. SA used a tiny portion "in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole"; and
        4. This use should have zero effect on any "potential market for or value of the copyrighted work"


        I'm not really sure how to address your second point. It's either irrelevant, or Apple should be claiming SA divulged Trade Secrets.
      • As much of a silly storm in a teacup as this is...

        Apple is not trying to delete the thread, just remove an image from one of their service manuals. How is posting sections of a service manual fair use?

        According to the definition of fair use in US law [wikipedia.org] it potentially falls under fair use if it is "for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research", with a certain amount of fuzziness regarding the actual details with regard

  • sounds like a job for... (Score:5, Informative)

    by steak ( 145650 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:16PM (#15278638) Homepage Journal
    leonard j. crabs

    http://www.somethingawful.com/legal/ [somethingawful.com]

  • The problem is... (Score:5, Informative)

    by Galston ( 895804 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:20PM (#15278655)
    The problem is that Something Awful aren't hosting the picture, it is hosted by someone else elsewhere. Something Awful only have a link to the picture in a thread not the actual picture itself.

  • Apple Shmapple (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:21PM (#15278661)
    Why is it news everytime Somthing trivial regarding Apple happens. Not once have they come up with anything truely innovative that hasn't already been done (allbeit in a more shiny box I'm sure). They rape and pillage FOS software with little attribution.

    What I'm trying to say is I'm sick of trivial apple stories all the time.

  • Thermal paste (Score:4, Funny)

    by strredwolf ( 532 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:36PM (#15278709) Homepage Journal
    I showed my father the service manual picture. He said (and I quote) "Holy moley! Nobody uses that much thermal grease!"

    Yep, Apple fucked up this one.

  • First revs? whats with Apple (Score:4, Insightful)

    by a_greer2005 ( 863926 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:36PM (#15278710)
    Let me start by saying You can have my mac when you pry it from my cold dead hands.

    Now, about the first rev thing: why is it only Apple with these problems? you never hear anyone say "dont buy that Dell/HP/Lenovo, its a rev A, wait for the QC issues to be fixed in the rev b"

    I thought that these problems werer because they were the only mass-PPC hardware vendor, but that is now de-bunked -- and on that note, no one at Intel evaluated a finidhed laptop?? God knows, as much as Apple throws the I-word around, you would think it is a partnership!

  • Interesting (Score:2, Interesting)

    by sheldon ( 2322 )
    Dell's Service Manuals are available from their support website.

    Dell Inspiron 6400/E1505 Service Manual [dell.com]

    Couldn't they just provide a link to the Apple manuals online?

  • Not the issue (Score:5, Insightful)

    by todesengel ( 722281 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:40PM (#15278726)
    Nobody seems to be addressing the real issue here. As noted in Lowtax's post, what's ridiculous about this lawsuit is that Apple is taking legal action against SA for something that isn't even on their servers. All that is posted in the offending thread is a link to the service manual on someone else's webspace. Apple threatening SA and their ISP is absurd, they have done absolutely nothing wrong.

  • Link with Pic (Score:3, Informative)

    by NVP_Radical_Dreamer ( 925080 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:43PM (#15278734) Homepage
    Link that works, with pic http://uk.gizmodo.com/2006/05/04/thermal_greasy_ap ple_sics_lawy.html [gizmodo.com]

  • I am confused.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by f0dder ( 570496 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:48PM (#15278758)
    is it ok to hate Apple now?

  • Apple Splatters! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Bushido Hacks ( 788211 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @06:51PM (#15278765) Homepage Journal
    So, if I say anything bad about Apple computers, their crack (cocane) team of lawyers will sue me? Well, in that case, I think I'll do something to tick them off as well...

    *stands on soap box* Apparently, their voice command program which requires the ESC key to toggle the microphone interferes with any vim commands that require you to escape back into command mode when you are using Darwin, Apple's version of xterm.

    Come and get me you lawyer bastards!!!!

    PS: Macs are ghey, eat babies, and kill kittens!

  • Uh-oh... (Score:5, Funny)

    by hunterx11 ( 778171 ) <hunterx11@g3.1415926mail.com minus pi> on Saturday May 06, 2006 @07:06PM (#15278801) Homepage Journal
    Apple is going to sue now that /. has a link to a page containing a link to the picture!

  • Hmmm.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by TheOldSchooler ( 850678 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @07:08PM (#15278812)
    The last time I was serviced with that much thermal paste it cost me 50 bucks and I was sore for a week.

  • Have they? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Lars T. ( 470328 ) <Lars,Traeger&googlemail,com> on Saturday May 06, 2006 @07:55PM (#15278940) Journal
    Apple has sent a threatening letter to SomethingAwful...

    Have they? [andrewescobar.com]

  • Lowtax 2, Apple 0 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jodka ( 520060 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @08:23PM (#15279040)

    Well Rich is sure to make the most of the free publicity; the stupidty demonstrated by Apple lawyers is the kind of material on which he thrives. Apple is dealing with someone who has built his career on the art of savage ridicule. If you want to be mercilessly mocked on the World Wide Web then have a laywer send a letter to Lowtax.

    So Apple's clownboat lawyers have just spawned a wave of Anti-Apple publicity. What might have been confined to SomethingAwful has now propagated to Gizmodo and Slashdot and will spread from there. And the lawyers have not only spread bad publicity about Apple, they are generating more of it themselves: Not only has Apple screwed up with heat sink grease, Apple has screwed up AND their lawyers are trying to cover it up. Apple would benefit from keeping a tighter reign on its lawyers; because they see only the legal aspects of any issue, they are prone to do great harm to Apple's public image in pursuit of insignificant legal points.

    • No one cares. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by hotsauce ( 514237 )

      So Apple's clownboat lawyers have just spawned a wave of Anti-Apple publicity.

      Only on Slashdot. Only amongst the /. crowd that has nothing better to do than follow every Apple story. Wake me up when this is being repeated every half-hour on CNN Headline News.

      It's not being repeated every half-hour on CNN headline news? Guess what? Apple's lawyers won--in the real world, those fancy degrees were a lot better than your random geek postings after all.

  • Apple's legal department uses Microsoft Entourage (Score:5, Funny)

    by un1xl0ser ( 575642 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @08:32PM (#15279057)
    Files are never hosted on the forums, so Apple should be going after the person who is hosting the material. Apple doesn't understand how teh intarweb works.

    The really interesting thing is that the Apple legal department uses Microsoft Entourage as an e-mail client. Lowtax posted the headers in his response (posted above by someone else).

    Received: from mail-out3.apple.com (mail-out3.apple.com [17.254.13.22])
    by mx3.somethingawful.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9E4981B523C
    for webmaster@somethingawful.com; Tue, 2 May 2006 21:38:35 -0500 (CDT)
    Received: from relay8.apple.com (relay8.apple.com [17.128.113.38])
    by mail-out3.apple.com (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id k432cUP8027258
    for webmaster@somethingawful.com; Tue, 2 May 2006 19:38:30 -0700 (PDT)
    Received: from [17.193.14.216] (unknown [17.193.14.216])
    by relay8.apple.com (Apple SCV relay) with ESMTP id 5CB7E17B;
    Tue, 2 May 2006 19:38:30 -0700 (PDT)

    User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/11.2.3.060209
    Date: Tue, 02 May 2006 19:38:28 -0700
    Subject: Urgent Legal Notice from Apple Computer
    From: Copyright Agent copyrightagent@apple.com
    To: webmaster@somethingawful.com
    Message-ID: C07D65B4.1430E%copyrightagent@apple.com
    Thread-Topic: Urgent Legal Notice from Apple Computer

  • It's Fair Use, for Christ's Sake! (Score:3, Informative)

    by pgpckt ( 312866 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @08:39PM (#15279088) Homepage Journal
    I am not a lawyer. But I can read a statute.

    • 17 U.S.C. 107 - Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use


    Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include--

    (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
    (2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
    (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
    (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

    The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

    ---

    Do I really need to walk Apple through the factors to prove to them that this is fair use? It's pretty damn clear! Ok, fine, I'll do it anyway.

    Preamble) Seems to me it qualifies as criticism, comment, and teaching.

    1) This isn't commercial. They aren't reselling your manual. This is an "educational purpose." Get over yourselves.

    2) It's a technical manual. There are two types of copyrighted works: 1) factual and 2) creative. This is in the first category. That means less protection for you, Apple.

    3) It's only one little picture. The amount is minimal.

    4) There is no effect. People still have to buy the manual if they want the manual.

    Hey, SomethingAwful wins on all four elements! STFU Apple.

    *I am not a lawyer. But I can read a statute.

  • Not just one page (Score:5, Informative)

    by Yjerkle ( 610052 ) on Saturday May 06, 2006 @11:32PM (#15279570)
    The post includes a brief excerpt from Apple's Service Source Manual which Apple wants removed.

    I have mod points, but I couldn't find anyone pointing this out to mod up. The post [somethingawful.com] includes a link to the entire service manual. Apple's complaint is NOT about the single page showing the thermal grease, it's about the posting of a PDF of their copyrighted service manual in its entirety. Now, they're still threatening the wrong person, since the file is hosted somewhere else, but there is real infringement going on.

  • Heretics (Score:5, Funny)

    by t_allardyce ( 48447 ) on Sunday May 07, 2006 @07:03AM (#15280654) Journal
    What they have done is blasphemy and of course they should take it down and apologise. To insult Apple believers in this way is not acceptable, religious insults are not acceptable and only serve to fuel hatred.

    Praise Jobs the Enlightener, the Finder,

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